I do like Pro Tools Native for PCM recording- I feel it has a much smoother, clearer and less grainy characteristic than TDM. I think it was a great idea for Avid to finally introduce a native system, although I haven't A/B'ed it against Nuendo or Pyramix.

I haven't tried HDX yet. I'm assuming you have- what do you think about it?

Do you experience noticeable latency with HD Native? If so, how do you work around it when recording vocals? Personally, I don't mind a small amount of latency when tracking instruments, especially if I have an acoustic connection to the instrument through strings, an amp, sticks, etc, but I can't stand even the slightest bit when recording vocals. I believe the delay causes comb filtering when combined with the resonance and bone conduction in my head and affects my pitch and performance (as well as that of singers I am recording). Even with Pro Tools HD TDM systems I hear a little latency in headphones. Not enough to notice per se, but if I compare an HD software monitoring setup to an all analog chain the difference is quite apparent. With the latter, vocals feel more real and natural and inspire confidence. My preferred way to record in Pro Tools is to split the output of the mic preamp so that both an the A/D interface and an analog mixer feeding a headphone amp receive the vocal. I make sure the headphone mix is not also receiving the D/A converted vocal from Pro Tools. However, this makes punch ins a little tricky because there is no input monitoring setting or "tape machine style" option in Pro Tools to mute the input at the moment you go into record mode (a feature that many have requested). Do you have any issues and/or solutions with this? Am I being too picky? I know that HD Native has about the lowest latency around for software monitoring but I'm afraid it isn't as low as TDM or analog. I would love to ditch my analog mixer and buy an HD Native system (which would make workflow easier) if I feel that vocal performance won't suffer.

Ummmm... You guys are talking about HD Native and Michael is talking about Native.

And Michael, I've worked on an HDX rig, it is awesome. Although when using AAX plugins, the sound of PT 10 Native and HDX are the same. So PT 10 Native is also awesome; the newer mix engine sounds better to me.